Wireless communication networks, such as cellular networks, operate by sharing resources among the mobile terminals operating in the communication network. As part of the sharing process, one or more controlling devices allocate system resources relating to channels, codes, among other resources. Certain types of wireless communication networks, e.g., orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (“OFDM”) networks, are used to support cell-based high speed services such as those under the IEEE 802.16 standards. The IEEE 802.16 standards are often referred to as WiMAX or less commonly as WirelessMAN or the Air Interface Standard.
OFDM technology uses a channelized approach and divides a wireless communication channel into many sub-channels which can be used by multiple mobile terminals at the same time. These sub-channels can be subject to interference, which may cause data loss.
A system and method are needed for providing an uplink control structure and a pilot signal for obtaining channel information during uplink operations from the mobile terminals to the base station using minimum signal overhead. Existing systems do not employ uplink control structures. To the extent that pilot symbols are provided, the pilot symbols are arranged in a fixed pattern that is predefined for preselected resource block sizes. A system and method are proposed below that provide an uplink control structure and an efficient pilot signal having adaptive density and allocation design and which are scalable for different size resource blocks.